One of the problems faced by emergency medical providers, such as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), is that a person in distress may not be able to communicate during an emergency. For example, a person may be experiencing a diabetic crisis, where the person is unable to answer questions asked by the EMTs.
Moreover, given the ease with which people are able to move throughout society and the world, it can be difficult to determine when an outbreak of a particular medical syndrome, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is underway. For example, a person may have contracted SARS before boarding an airplane to travel to another city, region or country. A SARS outbreak may, therefore, cross regional or international boundaries quite easily given the ease of travel. This mobility can make discovery of the syndrome difficult and, moreover, may place emergency medical providers in a somewhat reactive position so that the nature of the crisis is only understood after it is well underway.
In addition, legal restrictions on the handling of private medical information, such as the Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996 (HIPPA), require medical providers, such as doctors, EMTs, etc., to handle a person's private medical information as set out under the law. These legal restrictions may hinder the dissemination of critical medical information during a crisis which may place emergency medical providers at a further disadvantage during an outbreak.